Public Statements

Small Business Tax Cut Act

Floor Speech

I rise in support of the Levin substitute and on behalf of the middle class families of Nevada, who are struggling to make ends meet. I'm talking about the housekeepers and the card dealers, the teachers, the nurses, the cops on the beat, the ones who work hard to take care of their families--to put food on the tables, to fill their cars with gas, to buy new sneakers for their kids, and to make the mortgage payments on time.

Yet, in spite of these challenges, Washington asks them to give a little more. Washington Republicans ask them to make additional sacrifices and ask them to carry the extra burden for wealthy Wall Street millionaires who are not paying their fair share. Why on Earth should a waitress in Nevada pay a higher tax rate than a yacht owner? Why should a janitor pick up the slack for a Big Oil executive? Why should a card dealer sacrifice more than a Wall Street hedge fund manager? That doesn't make sense. It's not fair. Wall Street corporations shipping American jobs overseas and big oil companies making record profits don't need our help. Working men and women in this country do.

This piece of legislation would be destructive to them, their futures, and their families. It is time we started siding with middle class families, who most definitely do need our help, and that starts by passing the Buffett rule.